There is a need for bio-products that primarily can be used as ingredients in food or feed. The basic constituents in such products are proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
Suitable biomasses for such products are grasses and oil bearing crops, such as seeds, cereals and pulses. Cereals have a protein content up to 15% e.g. wheat, and pulses have a content of up to 45% e.g. soybeans, based on dry matter.
A general problem especially related to pulses is the content of indigestible oligosaccharides causing flatulence when fermented in the gut. The presence of the oligosaccharides raffinose, stachyose and verbascose can be reduced by soaking in water or enzymatically by hydrolysis with α-galactosidase. The problem associated with this is that it adds to the cost of the final product due to the use of water in soaking or by an enzymatic treatment that has to be performed at a relatively high water content of 80% or more.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,725 B1 discloses a method for preparing a legume where the flatulence-causing oligosaccharides are removed by soaking in water.
WO 02/15712 A2 discloses a method for manufacturing a soy protein product by the use of α-galactosidase where the water content in the process is 80-90%. The soy product obtained has a protein content of min. 60% and a total content of raffinose and stachyose of less than 5%.
US 2003/019041 A1 discloses a method for the manufacture of a soy protein concentrate by the use of a glycosidase enzyme (α-galactosidase) where the water content in the process according to the examples is approx. 90%. After hydrolysis carbohydrates and salts are removed by ultrafiltration. The soy concentrate obtained has a protein content of min. 65% and a combined content of raffinose and stachyose of less than 4%.
WO 2009/143591 discloses a method for processing soybeans by the use of enzyme(s) which is capable of converting the insoluble polysaccharides into soluble sugars and hydrolyzing the proteins at a water content of maximally 35%. The level of degradation is not disclosed.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for the production of bio-products with a modified sugar profile that is enriched in monosaccharide and sucrose content and reduced in indigestible oligosaccharide content, which can be performed at lower costs due to the low water content in the process.
Yet another object is to provide a method where the fermentable sugars originally present or provided by α-galactosidase, may be further converted with a fungus e.g. yeasts and/or bacteria e.g. Lactobacillus. 
These objects are fulfilled with the process and the products of the present invention.